Diary From November 18, 1862, To October 18, 1863 (with ownership signature of Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren) (from the home library of John J. McCloy)

Descripción

Second Volume Only of three volume diary began in 1862. First Edition (SD). This book came directly from the home library of the former Assistant Secretary of War and US High Commissioner to Postwar Germany, John J. McCloy. However, he did not sign his name in the book. But Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren did. You can see his signature on the front side of the third front end paper. There is another Dahlgren signature across the way on the rear side of the second front end paper. To take a stab, both of his wives first names began with the letter 'M'. I have provided a photograph of both signatures. I believe, once listed, this will be the Only book that bears Rear Admiral Dahlgren's signature. It's interesting that he had this book. 'Count Adam Gurowski was a Polish-born author who emigrated to the United States in 1849. From 1861 to 1863, he was translator at the State Department being acquainted with eight languages. In 1862, he published the first volume of his three-volume Diary. It included three categories of men: Praise, Half and Half and Blame. President Abraham Lincoln merited the Praise column, as did Edwin M. Stanton and poet Walt Whitman, but otherwise Gurowski was highly critical of officials in the Lincoln administration. William O'Connor, who translated some of the count's papers into English, described him as 'a madman with lucid intervals.' Whitman wrote, 'He knew every thing and growled and found fault with everybody--but was always very courteous to me.' Count Gurowski died in May 1866 and was buried in Congressional Cemetery. Whitman considered the tempestuous count a friend and attended his funeral. 'His funeral was simple but very impressive--all the big radicals were there,' Whitman wrote.' John A. Dahlgren was known as the 'Father of American naval ordnance.' Lincoln had a special law passed to make him Commander of the Washington Navy Yard. Dahlgren developed a cast iron muzzle loading canon (the Dahlgren gun) that dramatically improved accuracy. He created a number of other weapons credited with helping the union win the war. 'It was under his direction that the Navy established its own foundry to manufacture new equipment.' You can see the covers of the book in the photos. A good amount of the spine material has worn away. There is also rub-through at the corners and in a few places on and just off the edges. There is also a small circular discoloration on the front cover. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the book is very solidly bound from cover to cover with nicely tight pages throughout. The covers are also quite solidly bound, no issues at either of their junctures with their facing end papers or with any other pages. The inside covers and end papers are marbled. They are all in very nice condition. The pages are in very nice condition as well. To begin, they are exceptionally clean and even fairly bright. Foxing is not an issue. I saw only a very occasional light tan spot. And I didn't see any soiling. None of the corners were folded in. I didn't see any sharp placeholder creases. I saw only a very occasional light corner crease. There are no markings in the book. There are no attachments of any kind. And with the exception of the two Dahlgren signatures, no one has written their name or anything else anywhere. N° de ref. del artículo 005308

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